


Tomorrow

by CrowNoYami



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Slow Burn, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:01:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21963241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrowNoYami/pseuds/CrowNoYami
Summary: Watching his hero, his mentor and friend die before him, Peter is unwilling to live in a world without Tony Stark. Moments after Thanos’ defeat, he takes the battered gauntlet from Tony’s burnt arm and snaps. The stones may not be able to bring back Tony, but Peter is willing to give up everything and go back to when Thanos made his first move. Hopefully, the newly formed Avengers would let him explain before locking him up. They had a war to prepare for and Earth's Greatest Defender to save.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark (mentioned), Peter Parker/Tony Stark
Comments: 51
Kudos: 215





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To give you all a heads up, I'll be changing the MCU timeline a bit. In this story, Iron Man 2 did not happen. Instead, Tony discovers the palladium poisoning just before Loki starts causing trouble. 
> 
> Revised: 01/23/2021 ~ This has been beta'd by StarsWrite

**Chapter One**

His life changed; his world changed four times with a snap.

The first time he didn’t realize what was happening. Suddenly he felt sick to his stomach, his body slowly tearing itself apart while he clung to his mentor, hoping against hope that his healing abilities would keep him from leaving. The rag-tag group they met on the alien planet hadn’t seemed to be in pain when they vanished, but Peter would have remained in a constant state of pain if it kept that look of devastation from Mr. Stark’s eyes.

Nothing. There was nothing but a warm orange light surrounded him from all sides. For the first time in years, his senses weren’t screaming at him. He could sense others around him, but he wasn’t in danger; if anything, it was the most relaxed he had ever been. Peter didn’t know how long he remained there, floating in the orange glow, unconcerned with what was happening around him.

A bright flash, another snap.

Sucking in a large gulp of air, Peter ignored the pain as his body rested against the hard rock. His head was throbbing, back aching, Peter stood from his prone position and looked around, narrowing his eyes against the harsh light. He was still on the desert planet he died on, only this time without Mr. Stark there to guide him.

The others were slowly coming around as well, blinking and groaning while they got on their feet. The only one who didn’t look confused was the wizard. Doctor Strange gathered them together and waved his hand. After a quick explanation from the wizard, they jumped through a portal and hopped into battle.

Peter barely had time to see Mr. Stark, to make sure he was okay before the fighting began. Fighting Team Captain was nothing like this. Everything happened so fast. One second he held the gauntlet; the next, he was fighting for his life and looking out for those around him.

Through it all, he gathered as much information as he could, his brain working overtime while Karen highlighted what she could find from when he and the others died until then while also helping him stay alive. His webbing cartridges were replaced twice before the battle was over, Karen set on Instant-Kill and ripping into aliens right and left.

When he saw Thanos raise his hand with the gauntlet, Peter’s breath caught in his throat. Everything became quiet as Tony took the stones from Thanos in a move that would haunt him for years to come. Raising his hand, Tony proclaimed the same line that gave Peter hope all those years ago.

“I am Iron Man.”

The third snap echoed through Peter’s head, ruining him.

Watching as Tony turned Thanos and his vicious pets to ash broke something inside him. Absently Peter had known that there was no future for them, that Tony didn’t feel the same way. But to see the man he loved make the sacrifice play once again, Peter couldn’t breathe.

Heartbreak. It was just as physical as breaking a bone but ripped you apart from your very soul. Peter ached, his limbs hanging loosely at his side as he watched his hero lay down and say his goodbye. Tony wasn’t made of the same stuff as Thanos or the Hulk; he was only human. Humans couldn’t take on the Infinity Stones force and couldn’t save the world without sacrifice.

Clenching his hand, Steve gently guided Peter aside while Pepper said goodbye to her husband. A sudden thought crossed his mind, one that spurred him into action. Turning to the wizard who had seen over fourteen-million possible results, Peter caught his gaze. Pushing against whoever was holding him, Peter sprinted to the man.

“Did you see beyond this?”

Peter could hear crying in the background, how the world was slowly starting to weep for the man who gave everything. Strange shook his head, one of his hands at his side, while the other was held slightly behind him, a signal to the wizards to stand down. Different scenarios rushed through Peter’s head. Some dismissed before they fully formed, some he considered while he tried to think of his next step.

“Peter, I’m sorry, but it was the only way.”

Shaking his head, Peter looked back, realizing now that he was only a few feet from the body of his hero. Pepper was crying, sobbing into her hands over her lost husband. There were very few dry faces, and wherever Peter looked, people were holding back tears.

“He was only human,” Peter whispered; his eyes transfixed on Tony.

“If anyone’s destined for greatness, it’s you, son. You owe the world your gifts. You just have to figure out how to use them. And know that wherever they take you, we’ll always be here. So, come on home, Peter. You’re my hero, and I love you.”

Ben’s words ran through his head, making Peter turn around to the grieving widow and small group of friends who had gone through hell and back together. The last time he had seen Captain America, he had been fighting against Tony, but judging by the tears running down his face, their feud had been, at least temporarily, resolved.

Glancing at the ground where Tony lay, Peter choked back a sob at seeing the man before him, his eyes thankfully closed while he lay slumped on the ground. He didn’t begrudge Pepper for having Tony, for loving him. It would have never worked between them, not in this reality. Not with the limited time they had together. Instead, Peter was happy that Tony had someone at his side who loved him and made him happy.

He could change their time, could change those years Tony spent alone and hurting. He could change everything.

Once he was close enough, Peter knelt beside Tony, everyone thinking he had to say his final goodbye, allowing the young boy whatever he needed for closure. He was always faster than most of them, and with Wanda not paying much attention, her head buried in Clint’s shoulder, Peter could do as he wished.

Placing his hand on top of Tony’s, Peter flicked his writs and tugged. It took a second for him to slip the give on his hand, ignoring the way Tony’s fingers limped back to their original position. Hearing the rustle of clothing behind him, Peter pointed his hand back and webbed Pepper in place.

Her shout rang out too late for anyone to stop him. Closing his eyes and focusing on what he needed to do, Peter snapped.

Fire raced up his gloved arm, his lungs constricting while his healing abilities repaired the damage. Even with his spider healing, he wouldn’t survive using all five stones. Thankfully, he only needed the help of two.

Using the time stone was considerably more manageable than the reality stone. Throwing his body back in time and watching, absorbing the timeline of the one who used it before him was more straightforward than fabricating his existence.

Two versions of the same person couldn’t exist in the same time stream for long. Going back to New York’s battle, before the team split into two, but after they saw the alien invasion, Peter cleared his mind.

Ben was still alive; it would be a while before he would go on the school trip that changed his life. May was working one job instead of two; their lives had been so much simpler then. Everything looked so bright for them, for him, back before he could swing from skyscrapers and fought crime every night.

Reality had to change.

Grinding his teeth, Peter slipped into the cracks between time and space and focused. Changing reality took a lot out of you, especially if you were already beaten and bruised from a war fought only a few moments before. Feeling his healing start to become sluggish, unable to keep up with the onslaught of power coursing through him while he worked, Peter couldn’t change anything more than himself.

It was hard. One of the hardest things he had ever done, but two Peter Parker’s couldn’t live at the same time. Fresh tears streamed down his face while he played with something he should never understand. Peter Parker, nothing more than a toddler, was on the plan when his parents died. Nobody survived the crash.

Ben and May Parker would live their lives as if a baby hadn’t ended up in their care. With him no longer being in their lives, it would hopefully allow them to start a new family, one without him in it. Modifying the memories of those who knew him, erasing his history from time itself, Peter’s arm slowly blackened.

Grunting against the onslaught of pain, Peter made a new life for himself, adding the years he lost in the soul stone. His body had been frozen as his mind floated in the orange glow of the soul stone. It took only a thought for his body to catch up, adding the extra years.

Nearing the end of his rope, the pain settling into his bones, Peter finished what he set out to do. One by one, the stones went back to their original timeline, at the exact moment they were taken. Now without help, Peter found himself once again on Earth; only this one wasn’t the husk he had seen before slipping his hand into the gauntlet.

If he did things right, he was only a few yards away from where the battle of New York had taken place, a couple of hours from when Tony had first tried to sacrifice his life for the greater good. There would be SHIELD agents swarming the area, picking up whatever alien technology they could, unknowingly putting Adrian Toomes on a dark path.

Grunting as he stood on his sore feet, Peter looked down at himself. His suit was torn, the stones having rendered his right side all but useless, hopefully only for the time being. There was blood trickling from his ear, his wounds open and seeping into what remained of his suit.

Stumbling, Peter made his way to the small Middle Eastern place that Tony had dragged him to once after spending too much time in the lab. Opening the doors, Peter looked inside. They were all there and whole. Everyone was so much younger than when he first met them, though only a few years from this moment, it felt like he missed out on decades.

Natasha was the first to notice him; though she placed her hand on her hip, she didn’t draw her weapon. Clint tensed and turned around, his eyes narrowing. Thor and Bruce didn’t seem concerned with the new arrival, though Bruce’s gaze soon turned concerned upon noticing his battered appearance.

Steve was already out of his chair, though if it were to help him or hold him back, Peter didn’t know. He only had eyes for Tony. Tony, who was alive and well. His hair was missing some of the gray Peter was accustomed to seeing. His body was missing some of the tension Peter always hated seeing on the man. Tony wasn’t just younger; he was happier than when he picked up a skinny kid trying to save the world one mugger at a time.

Grabbing a chair with his left hand, Peter sunk before his knees gave out.

“I need to speak to Nick Fury.” Spoke Peter, trying to show

Natasha twitched her hand flexing around the handle of a gun. Peter ignored it. If she were going to kill him, she would have done so before now. Holding back a groan as his right hand jerked while trying to straighten his back, Peter hoped that the pain meant that he wasn’t going to lose the arm completely.

“Listen, if you need to talk to SHIELD—”

Peter didn’t let Bruce finish his sentence.

“No, I need to speak to Nick Fury. SHIELD is compromised. If we’re going to make a difference, we need to act quickly, starting with Thor taking the Tesseract off Earth and putting Loki with whatever variation of a mind healer they have on Asgard.”

Black spots began to dance in his vision. It wouldn’t be long now before his body would give in to the need to sleep and heal. Ignoring the people demanding answers, Peter locked gazes with Tony.

Oh, to be able to see those warm brown eyes again, full of life and alive.

“I know how to solve your palladium problem. I’m about ten seconds from passing out, so I must make this quick. Keep me safe while I’m vulnerable Tony, and I’ll save you from being poisoned to death by your arc reactor.”

Before Tony could agree, Peter fainted, his body slumping over and spilling onto the floor. He needed time to heal, and his mind needed to process everything the stone had shown him. By going back in time, he had watched events unfold backward, time itself shoved into his brain. He needed to process the overload of information, come to terms with everything he had seen.

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

Uncle Ben was right, and now that he had the chance to fix things, the responsibility of it, he wasn’t going to back down.

Four snaps were enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For updates, you can always follow me on social media!
> 
> Twitter ( https://twitter.com/CrowNoYami )  
> Tumblr ( https://crownoyami.tumblr.com/ )  
> Instagram ( https://www.instagram.com/crows_talons/ )  
> Goodreads ( https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/15833181-crownoyami )


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Notes: Thank you, everyone, so much for your support with this story. I’ve had an overwhelming flow of positive comments in only a few hours after posting. This is going to be a learning process, and one of the things I’ve spoken about with my beta is the S.H.I.E.L.D vs SHIELD. I will from here on out remove the periods to make for easier reading. If there are any other adjustments I should make please let me know! Like I said in the last chapter I’m new to the MCU scene and appreciate the help. I will be updating this story about once a month since it's the first I hope you enjoy it! 
> 
> *~*~*This has been edited by StarsWrite *~*~*~

**Chapter Two**

“Tony, for the last time, we need to restrain him.”

Glaring at Steve, Tonto shook his head, his arms crossed over his chest while he starred down the super-soldier. The wounded man currently occupied them; the door opened to reveal the make-shift hospital bed. After the newcomers’ dramatic entrance and subsequent fainting spell, Tony had taken to heart his role of protecting him.

There was something about the kid, something pulling at protective instincts Tony didn’t know he had. With a quick call to Fury, Tony watched as SHIELD-approved paramedics tended to the young man as they made their way to Tony’s jet to take them to his home in Malibu.

While Tony gave The Avengers an open invitation to come live with him as he rebuilt the tower, only Bruce and Steve had taken him up on his offer. Natasha and Clint were quick to disappear to wherever they set up base, even the allure of the newcomer not enough to make them stay without orders.

A few hours after Tony, Steve, Bruce, and their unconscious passenger settled in. Nick Fury walked into the mansion demanding a report of what happened after the alien attack. Tony hesitated when the mention of his palladium problem came to light, having to reveal that his arch reactor was killing him.

Steve didn’t take the news well, eyes comprehensive, while Tony broke down the science of what was happening. While worried, Bruce wasn’t surprised, easily keeping up with the explication and frowning while he tried to work out the problem. While he didn’t seem surprised that something was wrong, Fury rubbed the bridge of his nose while Tony explained the issue.

“You mean to tell me you’ve been a ticking time bomb since you came back and didn’t think that SHIELD had a right to know?”

Frowning, Tony crossed his arms over his chest. “Until today, SHIELD wanted nothing to do with me and my problems, remember? Besides, it wasn’t like this is going to hurt anyone else. While the nuclear reactor I have in my chest can theoretically explode at any given moment, that has nothing to do with the poisoning.”

“Tony-”

“Besides,” Tony cut Fury off, ignoring the way his eyebrow twitched. “If what the kid says is true and SHIELD is compromised, I think I made the right call in keeping it between me and, well, me.”

With a long sigh, Fury glared at Tony for a moment. “If he’s telling the truth.” Bruce glanced between the two before speaking up. “I think he is. It was your people who just tried to nuke New York, willing to sacrifice what would have ended up being millions of people from the aftermath alone. I wouldn’t put it past them to be dealing under the table.”

Silence followed his observation, Steve frowning in thought. Simultaneously, he processed the implications of working for the people who were willing to kill millions instead of giving them a chance to fight off the invading aliens.

“I already have people working on it, trying to flush out who could be corrupt. The last thing we need a bunch of well-funded government officials playing God. Back to your issues, do you think this kid knows what he’s talking about when it comes to your reactor killing you?”

Tony shrugged. While he wanted to believe the boy, Tony had only just begun noticing the problem. While he thoroughly thought that there were other people out there smarter than him, nobody else should have the information on the arch reactor needed to even theorize on the issue.

“Don’t know, but I plan on finding out the second he wakes up. If he designed the suit, he very well might be able to figure out a solution that I haven’t.”

Both Steve and Fury looked at Tony in surprise. “Seriously, while a lot of it needs repairing, I have Jarvis working on breaking down the tech. The whole thing from technology beyond anything we’ve seen before. If he can create that, then I’m glad that he seems to be on our side.”

Fury grunted, his eye closing for a second before he straightened his shoulders. “Let me know when he wakes up, I’m going to check in with Agent Hill.” Bruce turned his gaze away from the door the boy was resting behind. “I’m going to catch a couple of hours of sleep while he’s stable. Jarvis, wake me in three hours please, I’d like to check his vitals every few hours.”

“Of course, Doctor Banner.”

Leaving Tony and Steve, Fury and Bruce made their way to the rooms Tony had provided them. Now with only Steve to talk to, Tony gave the soldier his full attention. He wanted to make a quick joke about the kid they had sleeping away most of his injuries, but it felt off.

“Out of the frying pan and into the fire, right?”

Quirking an eyebrow at Steve, who looked down the hallway which led to the room the newcomer was staying in, Tony sighed. “Seems like it. I still think that we should give the guy a bit of slack. I know that you want to protect us from another incident, but the kid doesn’t seem the type to harm us. Jarvis is watching him closely; the second that he so much as changes his breathing, we’ll be alerted to him waking and can take it from there.”

Steve frowned, his arms still crossed over his chest while he continued to look toward the room, doubling as a hospital bed right then. “Just looking at him, Loki doesn’t look like much either, Tony, but he nearly enslaved humanity a few hours ago.”

“I get it, Cap. But you weren’t the one he was looking at before he passed out. There’s something genuine about him that I can’t put my finger on, but I seriously doubt that he’s capable of the same things as Reindeer Games.”

There was a moment of silence between them before Steve spoke again. “You win, Tony. We’ll let Jarvis monitor the situation but need to get some sleep. You’ve been outside his room for ten hours, and Jarvis mentioned that you haven’t slept since Coulson picked you up.”

Blinking at Steve, who was trying to be reasonable, Tony crossed his arms over his chest. A glance at the doorway containing his new sleeping charge was his answer. Steve sighed, running a hand through his messy hair.

“Don’t make me call Pepper, Tony. I was instructed to inform her when you’re unreasonable. It would be best if you slept; we both do. Have Jarvis monitor the kid, and I promise we’ll both get some sleep.”

“I doubt Pepper would delay her board meeting to tuck me in, Cap.”

There must have been something in his tone that he didn’t want to give away. Steve’s eyebrows scrunched together for a split second before something a lot like pity crossed his face. Using the excuse of checking on the unconscious boy to avoid Captain America’s sympathetic gaze, Tony looked away.

“Tony…”

“Our relationship isn’t strong enough to handle me making the sacrifice play. It made her realize she could be with Tony Stark, but not Iron Man.”

Keeping his eyes locked at the door instead of looking at Steve, Tony resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. As much as he hated to admit it, Steve was right. He needed sleep; both did after the day they had. If he didn’t get at least a couple of hours of sleep, he wasn’t going to be any help to anyone. Even he had his limits, ones that had been creeping up on him a lot faster once he hit his late thirties.

Running a hand down his face, Tony chanced a glance at Steve, who was standing beside him. There was nothing for it. As much as he didn’t want to leave the kid, they both needed sleep.

“Alright, here’s the deal. I’m going to take a shower and sleep; Jarvis will watch the kid and notify us both the second his breathing changes. We both need at least a few hours of REM sleep before we rehash our conversation about restraining unconsenting young men.”

Being a bit more innocent than the average adult male, it took Steve a second to get the implications before his face pinked. Smiling at the flustered look, Tony clapped his hand on Steve’s shoulder before walking down the hallway.

“I’ll see you in a few hours; you might want to freshen up a bit before then. I think I see some alien brains in your hair. Later, Cap.”

There was a grumble from Steve before he left, but Tony could trust that the man wouldn’t do anything to the teen who was under his protection. With the tower’s penthouse out of commission, Tony had to open his Malibu home to the Avengers. Once his one place in the world he could relax and be himself, he was now a stomping ground for a handful of enhanced and skilled men and women.

Not to mention a holding cell slash hospital.

Between Jarvis and Fury, the newcomer wasn’t going to be able to escape even if he wanted to. Going to his room and getting ready for bed, including a shower hot enough to scold his skin, Tony tried to push the thought of the boy out of his head.

There wasn’t anything he could do. If this guy knew how to solve his poisoning issue, fantastic; if not, he was right back to where he started a few Horus ago. Now, however, everyone knew what he had been hiding. Tony wouldn’t put it past SHIELD to try and take Iron Man away from him, to try and replicate the technology and put someone else in the suit.

He was Iron Man. It wasn’t something he would ever let anyone take away. Not even Stan had been able to get anything from him. “This one’s mine.” He had meant it. If he couldn’t solve the issue, if having an arch reactor in his chest did indeed kill him, then he would take it all to his grave.

Dropping the towel, he had absently dried his hair with Tony slipped under the sheets. Jarvis instantly lowered the lights to his preferred setting. After Afghanistan, he couldn’t sleep in complete darkness, leaving a soft glow around the room so that if he opened his eyes from memory, he could instantly see around him and know that he wasn’t stuck in that cave any longer.

“Shall I begin your playlist?”

Snuggling into the soft comforter, Tony hoped the weight would bring a sense of comfort instead of entrapment tonight.

“Yeah, J. Keep the volume low, and I want to know the second anything changes with our unconscious house guest.”

“Excellent, Sir.”

Sighing into the pillow, Tony closed his eyes and hoped to catch at least a few hours of sleep. He had been running on nothing but coffee and energy drinks for the past few weeks, trying to pull himself out of danger the reactor was causing.

Attempting to finish the tower, to make it a symbol of hope with his clean energy program, along with trying to save his life, he had been burning the candle at both ends, and it had started to take its toll. He had been unable to let his tower become a side-project, wanting to bring something good from his company.

Though he would never outlive the title of Merchant of Death, Tony hoped that by building something good, something whorled changing that he didn’t end up in bloodshed, maybe he wouldn’t wreck everything he touched. Iron Man was a hero; people loved him. Tony wanted the name Tony Stark to inspire the same.

People would mourn Iron Man when he’s gone, would they feel the same about Tony Stark?

Drifting to sleep, Tony wondered if the kid truly knew how to fix his reactor. He hadn’t allowed anyone near the tech, the closest having been when Pepper had helped him switch out the old version for the new one. If the kid was using his failing health as an excuse to study the arch reactor, Tony wasn’t going to fall for the trap.

No one saved him from that cave. It had been his technology that blasted through the place. Ever since Tony saw his fellow captive lose the light from his eyes, Tony knew the only one he could rely on was himself. If the kid didn’t have a solution, he would make his own.

With the strum of bass-heavy in the air, Tony tried to clear his mind. If he were lucky, he wouldn’t sleep deep enough to dream of everything that had happened in the past forty hours. If he were lucky, he would wake up rested instead of in a cold sweat, waiting for the final blow to end his life. There was a reason Pepper slept in her own bed, even if they ended the night together.

Jarvis kept the music low, monitoring Tony’s reactions while he slept. Up until a pair of warm brown eyes opened several rooms away, the young man gasping while his brain kick-started back online.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For updates, you can always follow me on social media!
> 
> Twitter ( https://twitter.com/CrowNoYami )  
> Tumblr ( https://crownoyami.tumblr.com/ )  
> Instagram ( https://www.instagram.com/crows_talons/ )  
> Goodreads ( https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/15833181-crownoyami )


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoy!
> 
> OMG I forgot to mention 
> 
> *~*~*This has been edited by StarsWrite *~*~*~
> 
> Updated: 01/31/2021

**Chapter Three**

Everything hurt.

While he had been expecting his wounds from Thanos to be tender, it was nothing like the pain coursing through him now. Peter groaned, uncaring of who might be around to hear him, mentally cataloging the worst of his injuries. The worst was his head. Rolling onto his side, ignoring the pull of the tape keeping medical tubes on his skin, Peter kept his eyes closed, knowing from behind his lids that he wouldn’t be able to handle the harsh lighting of the room.

Watching time evolve backward had been something else. Having witnessed Tony Stark’s life in reverse, his brain processing the information granted to him caused the worst migraine Peter ever remembered having.

The Time Stone wasn’t something to play with, and while he could understand the information revealed to him, everything was still a little chaotic in his head. It was like trying to see through a haze, he could make out the shapes in the distance, but he couldn’t see any of the details until the fog lifted.

The stones, having the power they did, had a consciousness. It was that consciousness that made a sacrifice necessary to obtain the Soul Stone, their defense against someone combining their power. Peter had used two of the stones, not to save the world but to save Mr. Stark.

The Time Stone took that as an incentive to reveal the history of the man he was trying to save, the man he was risking everything for. Absently Peter had known that Mr. Stark’s life hadn’t been the best. There was a reason why people still hated him, why people feared him. Watching as one person after another betrayed Mr. Stark, how he had to live with the knowledge that his hero had attempted to kill him, shook the very foundation of who Peter thought Mr. Stark was.

Peter had always admired Mr. Stark. Before Iron Man, before he turned the world on its axis. Peter used to fawn over any magazine that had Mr. Stark on the cover, though rarely was he allowed to get it considering what context displayed. Still, Peter had a small collection from the moment he understood that tony stark was the one who was going to change the world.

When Mr. Stark was nothing more than someone who builds guns, but with Aunt May and Uncle Ben only allowing ‘child-approved’ material for him to look at, he also found out about the millions in charities and other advancements Mr. Stark had his hand in.

There wouldn’t be nearly as much research put into medical equipment, medications that helped keep people alive, or people saved by the donations generously given from stark industries. There was more to tony stark than making weapons, but sadly as he grew older, Peter realized that hardly anyone saw beyond the image he portrayed.

When Mr. Stark became Iron Man, and Peter knew without a shadow of a doubt that everything he worshiped about the man was finally coming to light. Slowly people were starting to realize that there was more to Mr. Stark than he let on in previous years, that perhaps he could be a hero.

Then Peter got bit by the spider, and everything changed. For a second, just a second, he had been happy, thinking that maybe with his new abilities he could join Mr. Stark in trying to save the planet, that they would work together. Uncle Ben’s death put a stop to those ideas, halting them in their tracks.

Mr. Stark could save the world; he would protect the everyday people, those who were rarely considered by anyone else. The people who wouldn’t end up on Iron Man’s radar but needed help in their daily lives. Mr. Stark was too busy to investigate every potential mugging, but Peter could. He didn’t have the same resources, but he crafted a mask and his webbing and swung around helping strangers every night.

Peter thought he had gotten to know Mr. Stark after Germany, that he was starting to see the man behind his invisible mask. Seeing through the Time Stone powers, he had proven that he didn’t know how resilient Mr. Stark was. It seemed it was one hit after another, never getting enough time to breathe before something else happened to Mr. Stark, and his world was once again rubble at his feet.

How many times did he have to pick himself back up alone? How many people turned their backs on him when he needs them most? And still, Mr. Stark kept giving and giving until there was nothing more for him to provide. Mr. Stark had always seemed invisible, but it was only after witnessing the struggles he had to overcome that Peter knew his real strength.

Carefully placing a hand to his head, Peter hoped that the migraine would fade soon. As far as he could tell, he had understood everything revealed by the Time Stone. Thankfully, he was used to keeping up with Mr. Stark when he was rattling information, giving him plenty of practice with taking in and understanding information quickly.

It also helped that he studied Mr. Stark if he’d been alive, thus knowing much of the science that Mr. Stark revealed while Peter mostly watched him work as an invisible observer to Mr. Stark’s genius.

_“I have informed Sir of your awakening; in the meantime, would you permit a full body scan to analyze your wounds?”_

Peter knew that voice; had fought alongside it.

“Vision?”

_“I have dimmed the lights to sixty percent; your vision should no longer be impaired. May I perform the scan now?”_

No, this wasn’t Vision. The voice speaking to him now was Jarvis, the intellect behind the android. Vision hadn’t been born yet, and if he played his cards right, there would be no need to bring him into existence. Though it hurt to think of a world without his fellow Avenger in it, the circumstances surrounding his presence nearly destroyed the planet.

“Sure, you can scan if you like. I would like to see a copy of the scan though Mr. Stark had maybe a tablet I could borrow? My head is pounding, but I would be interested in seeing the data for my right hand and arm?”

There was every possibility that Jarvis wasn’t to be trusted. Peter had appeared out of nowhere knowing far more than he should have about technology Mr. Stark had always kept secret. He was beaten and bruised, it was easy to tell he had been in battle, but The Avengers were the ones in the thick of things in New York, not Peter.

A soft blue light went from Peter’s head to his toes. Peter remained still on the bed, relaxing at the familiarity of having his body scanned by Mr. Stark’s AI, even if that AI wasn’t one he had met before. It was how Mr. Stark showed his affection, checking in to ensure without a shadow of a doubt that Peter was okay.

“ _I am detecting some abnormalities in your blood. However, the only concern is your head. You mentioned it paining you; no ailment is detected. Your right arm is reading as normal compared to your left. Would you like for Mr. Stark to provide you with a pain reliever?”_

Shaking his head, Peter finally opened his eyes. He had seen the medical bat at the compound and Stark Tower, but this was completely different. For one, it was smaller, designed for one person at a time instead of the handful of agents who might need assistance. It also resembled more a sterile bedroom than a hospital wing.

Attached to his left hand was an IV dripping a clear liquid into his veins. Jerking his head, which throbbed at the motion to look at the bag containing the liquid, Peter breathed a sigh of relief upon reading the label. Saline he could handle, but most drugs didn’t react well in his system since the bite.

Leaning back into the cloud disguised as a pillow, Peter let the IV in the back of his hand. As far as he could tell, there were no foreign drugs in his systems, thigh tender he felt as expected. His mind was foggy with visions from the Time Stone, not from anything they could have put into the IV.

“No, thank you, Jarvis. I’m sure that after I have something to eat and drink, my headache will go away.” As he spoke, Peter noticed that his head’s throbbing was slowly dimming into a dull ache. “I don’t want to take anything until trying that first at least.”

Instead of responding right away, there was a slight hesitation before Jarvis spoke.

_“Very well, Sir. Mr. Stark will be with you momentarily.”_

There was something in Jarvis’ voice. While most people wouldn’t have noticed Jarvis’s thinking as anything more than an AI, Peter had come to know both Karen and Friday’s personalities. Something had caused Jarvis to question how he should respond.

‘He didn’t give me his name.’ The thought floated to the forefront of Peter’s mind before the door swung open. Standing before him was the very reason why he risked everything. Mr. Stark looked good. There was a light in his eyes that had been steadily dimming since Germany. The circles under his eyes were missing, the slump in his shoulders removed. This was a man who still believed in the people beside him, who was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, knowing that they would work together when times get rough.

Peter wasn’t going to let that hope fade. He would do everything he could to save Tony from the heartache his own Mr. Stark had suffered.

“Tony.”

Peter breathed the name, the one he had only risked saying inside his head before. It had always been Mr. Stark before, a constant reminder of the distance between them. That distance had closed the second Peter saw this side of him. Mr. Stark was the man who sacrificed himself for a thankless world. This was a man who would live to build a better future.

“I’m sorry I passed out on you like that. I’m sure you have a bunch of questions, but if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could I maybe have a glass of water first?”

His healing factor may have kicked in when it came to the wounds he received, but it did nothing for his dry throat or the way his voice cracked with every word. Tony gave him a soft smile before nodding.

“Sure, kid. Jarvis will have something sent down for you.”

_“Right away, Sir.”_

Peter looked up at the ceiling, pulling his body up to sit instead of lying down.

“Thank you, Jarvis.”

_“You’_ _re quite welcome.”_

Watching Peter speak to Jarvis, Tony remained in the doorway for a moment before stepping inside and taking a seat on one of the chairs at Peter’s bedside. They didn’t’t speak for a moment, Peter looking at Tony and drinking in the image of the man. It was funny, here was Tony, dying due to the arch reactor and Peter couldn’t’t remember seeing him so well.

This Tony wasn’t looking for someone else to take over his legacy when he died. He hadn’t picked up an orphan boy to mentor and help grow. This Tony wasn’t charged with saving the world when his friends and family left him. Tony still had hope, had the knowledge that he was working towards a common goal with his childhood hero.

Steve Rogers was his friend, his comrade. Bruce Banner was probably in another room, his green counterpart not wearing the same skin yet. Clint hadn’t revealed his family; he was another soldier Tony could banter with. Natasha was alive and well instead of her corpse rotting on a foreign planet. Thor was whole, his brother estranged but alive, his parents disappointed but breathing.

So many things had yet to happen, and some Peter was hopeful he would be able to stop in their tracks. There was no reason for things to play out as it had in Germany. If Peter could coax Tony into a place of understanding, if he could convince the man that The Winter Soldier and Bucky Barnes were two different people, perhaps he could stop the fractions before they began.

“You look like you’re thinking hard for someone who crashed a celebration dinner.”

Jerked out of Tony’s thoughts, Peter shook his head, biting his bottom lip for a moment. “I was expecting you to start in on the palladium issue as soon as I woke up; why haven’t you?”

Tony shrugged, leaning back in the chair and not breaking their staring contest. “I’ll be honest, I’m curious how you know about the problem in the first place, but if I haven’t figured it out with the technology I have at my disposal, I’m not sure what you’re offering. Now I’m not claiming to be the smartest man in the world, I’ve known people a hell of a lot brighter, but you don’t look like you have the resources to figure out a solution to an arch reactor that you can only study in theory.”

Nodding his head in agreement, Peter worried his bottom lip before speaking. “Normally, you’d be right. I don’t blame you for dismissing it, but if you would pass me a tablet or something, I’ll give you what you need to create a new element for your reactor.”

He didn’t have an eidetic memory, but Peter would never forget how Tony did the impossible yet again and saved himself by creating a miracle out of nothing. The man had been completely alone and had managed to pull himself up from the dark hole inside his mind.

The shadow of a building collapsing on his small fifteen-year-old self came forth in Peter’s mind. Perhaps they were a bit more alike than he initially believed. Something must have shown in his eyes as Tony opened one of the drawers and pulled out what appeared to be a new StarkPad, the film still over the glass.

“I’m not saying I believe you can fix this, kid, but you seem to believe it, and I’ll give you a shot. It should take another ten minutes or so before Steve comes down with your food and something to drink. Think you can manage before then?”

Peter already had the program he needed up and running, his hands flying on the digital keyboard as he typed in the necessary equations. His throat and stomach could wait; he needed to do whatever he could to save Tony while still having the chance.

Speaking out loud while he worked, Peter explained what he was doing though he didn’t mention that it was Tony who made the discovery. It ended up taking a bit longer than Steve to arrive with his tray, though Tony pressed a finger to his lips as Steve walked in, his eyes never leaving the StarkPad Peter was using.

“And that’s pretty much it. I’d double-checked the math, make sure I didn’t mess up somewhere, but if you change the metal to Vibranium, and before you ask, I know where you might be able to get some if you keep a low profile, then you should be able to fix this before it becomes too much.”

Peter paused his fingers, which had been steadily tapping away at the StarkPad, which he passed over to Tony to check his calculations now tapping against his thigh.

“Um, I know that it’s technically any of my business, but have you thought about having the shrapnel removed? I mean, I know that it’s a huge surgery, but I know of a doctor who would be able to do it if you give him a call?”

Brown eyes locked with his, and Peter felt all the air in his lungs leave his body. There was a gleam in Tony’s eyes, like one he’d seen before when he had a breakthrough while working in the lab. Tony Stark, the man he had looked up to for most of his life, was not only impressed by what Peter just described but was floored by it.

“I’ll keep that in mind, Kid, once we test out your theory. No sense calling up your doctor if I’m going to die on the table, is there?”

While he couldn’t’t see himself, Peter felt the blood leave his face at the thought of Tony dying. Tony must have noticed as well as he placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder.

“On to business, how much do you want for this design? I can have a contract written up, say in three hours, and you could be a very wealthy man.” Tony’s voice had a hard edge to it, a charming smile on his face that Peter understood would typically have someone swooning at his feet. How many contracts did Tony pull in? How many people had he made a similar offer?

“I don’t need your money, Mr. Stark---”

“Tony, anyone as brilliant as you can call me by my first name.”

Peter nodded slowly. He had always addressed Tony by Mr. Stark, but this wasn’t his Mr. Stark. While the same, this Tony hadn’t been through the same trails his Mr. Stark had. This wasn’t the same man, the one who mentored him and helped him to grow into the man he was now was gone, lost far too soon.

“Tony, I don’t need your money. You can keep the element ideas, as far as I’m concerned, it’s yours.” Even Steve’s, who had walked in for the tail end of the conversation, eyes widened. Discovering a new element wasn’t something just anyone could claim. It was Nobel Prize-worthy, and Peter was giving it away.

“Kid—”

“Peter,” smirked Peter, “anyone as brave as you can call me by my first name.”

Steve laughed from the doorway, holding the tray containing the food and a large pitcher of ice water for Peter. Both Tony and Steve were expecting Peter, whose head jerked in Steve’s direction, to hold a bit of hero-worship, for the boy to stutter at Captain America. Instead, Peter’s eyes narrowed into slits, a frown crossing his face while he sat up in bed as if preparing for an attack.

Startled, Steve took a half-step back, passing the tray to Tony, who set it on the small adjustable table for Peter. Steve and Tony looked at each other for a moment, and though they had only recently begun to interact as a team, Peter could tell that the two understood what the other was saying. Fighting back the urge to scream at the friendship Steve had thrown away, Peter had to concentrate on his breathing for a moment to calm down.

Steve hadn’t done anything wrong yet. If Peter acted quickly and delicately, Captain America wouldn’t feel the need to betray his friend. If Peter kept to his game plan, Tony didn’t have to watch Steve walk away, leaving him for dead. But his plan relied heavily on them trusting him, something he wouldn’t gain if he showed how he felt about the American Hero.

Peter had never been good at lying; he stuttered and stumbled over his words enough that it almost always gave him away. Even when he was channeling the role of Spider-Man, his speech didn’t improve. But there was still one thing he could think of that would cause his reaction to Captain America and not give himself away.

“Sorry, Captain, but I’ve spent hours of my life listening to you unnecessarily lecture through school. What possessed you to record those videos in the first place?”

Tony laughed, his head thrown back and his shoulders shaking. Steve turned a pleasing shade of red. Picking up a piece of toast generously slathered in butter, Peter hoped he could figure out precisely what he would say to convince Tony, a man of science, that he was from the future. Glancing at Tony, who was poking fun at Steve, Peter vowed that he would do whatever it took to keep Tony safe, and hopefully, save the universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi ^^ 
> 
> So this is a bit earlier than expected. Some things have come up in Real Life, so I've been trying my best to get caught up on everything, including my writing, which is something I haven't done since December. I'm hopeful that by posting what I have done, it will kick my arse and get me back at the keyboard typing away.

***~*~*This has been edited by StarkRavingSpiders *~*~*~**

**Chapter Four**

Peter didn’t have long before Director Fury introduced himself, not that he needed to. If there was one person who scared him almost as much as Aunt May, or The Black Widow, it was Director Fury. In his timeline, they didn’t interact often, he had only met the man a handful of times while working with Tony, but something about him screamed “Alpha male,” and while Peter could hold his own in a fight, Director Fury didn’t back down for anyone.

Hopefully, he would be able to explain his case to the man, with the interactions the Time Stone forced upon him, Peter felt prepared to deal with the hardened agent. There had to be something genuine in him, something softer than his position allowed for Director Fury to give everything up, to risk his life daily to protect those who couldn’t defend themselves.

“This is turning out to be a very long day. First I have a megalomaniac attempting world domination; then a hoard of aliens try to take out New York, I nearly lose one of The Avengers to a missile deployed from my ship, and now I’m told you decided to drop out of nowhere covered in what I assume is your costume and near-death claiming to have found a solution to a problem you shouldn’t even know about.”

Setting the cup he had finished draining down on the small table, Peter calmed his nerves. Director Fury was intimidating as Hell, but so long as Peter wasn’t as a threat, he doubted the man would harm him. Clearing his throat, Peter glanced at both Steve and Tony, who didn’t look like they were going anywhere.

Time to bite the bullet.

“I’m sorry to impose on you like this, and I know that you’re busy, Director Fury. There’s so much I need to tell you if we’re going to win the oncoming war, but first, I think we should deal with the aftermath of the attack. My name is Peter Parker when I was thirteen, a radioactive spider bit me on a school trip to Oscorp, side note, you should think about closing down that project somehow.” Realizing that he was beginning to ramble, Peter bit his lip, making a mental note to shut down the project himself if no one else would.

“Anyway, the spider died after biting me but passed his powers on. I have enhanced strength and formed a synthetic web strong enough to handle my weight when swinging between buildings and sticky enough to support me. When I was fifteen, Mr. Stark collected me for a battle I wasn’t ready for, though I was happy to help. We fought, though I wouldn’t exactly say we won, and life moved on. Mr. Stark developed a new suit and an A.I. I named Karen to help me train.”

Pressing on, though Tony opened his mouth for a second to protest, Peter hoped he was doing the right thing. “After proving myself by nearly dying while capturing a villain known as the Vulture, can someone make a note to let Adrian Toomes in on the cleanup of New York, please? Tony offered me a spot on the team, I turned him down and spent the next year in relative relaxation; fighting minor crime, trying to figure out how I was going to ask M.J. out, studying and training with Mr. Stark at the compound.”

Blinking back tears, Peter’s fingers clenched into tight fists on top of the blanket.

“There was another invasion, this one to steal powerful artifacts from Earth. I can explain about them later, the Tesseract was one of them, though at the time it wasn’t on Earth anymore. The point is that Mr. Stark and I, along with a wizard-sorry, Master of the Mystic Arts, wound up on another planet. We fought and lost. The bad guy, an alien, named Thanos, gathered the artifacts he needed and killed half of the universe. I… I didn’t make it. He killed us all in a single moment. We were still on another planet when it happened. I remember it being so cold; the others had died, turned into ash; my stomach hurt, I could feel it slipping past but my healing factor from the spider was trying to regenerate at the same time and hold on. Mr. Stark made sure I wasn’t alone, and everything vanished.”

Hunched over, Peter wiped at his face. They never talked about it, never had the chance. Everyone else had vanished nearly at the same time, the only exception as far as Peter could tell, was him and Doctor Strange. Every second, his body remained intact after ‘The Snap’ was agony, his cells fighting to recuperate and hold him together, much like Peter imagined Doctor Strange’s magic did the same. For them, it wasn’t a painless death, far from it.

“I don’t remember a lot of what happened next, just an orange glow constantly surrounding me. I know there were others, but I couldn’t see them or talk to them, we ceased being but yet were alive. Then suddenly, I was gasping for air on that planet again, the people who I watched turn to dust with me.”

A small sip from the glass Tony refilled for him, and Peter caught his breath. “The wizard created a portal back to Earth. From what I understand, it was a complicated mess to bring everyone back, one I’ll explain later. We were thrown right into the middle of a battle, an army of Outriders, very similar to what attacked New York, and Thanos versus everyone and anyone willing to defend Earth.”

“I don’t know how long the fight lasted. I was too busy trying to stay alive and help anyone I could. I don’t know who all died, or if we all made it out. What I do know is that Mr. Stark took possession of the artifacts Thanos collected and used them.” Peter had to take a break, running a hand through his hair, he mentally prepared himself to relive the hardest thing ever seen.

“The power was running through him… Thanos was a titan, and it nearly killed him, the Hulk lost all function in his arm after using it. Mr. Stark was only human. It killed Thanos and his army, but Mr. Stark only had a few moments to breathe after, just long enough for Mrs. Stark to say goodbye. I couldn’t leave him like that. They thought I was going to say goodbye, that I _could_ say goodbye.”

Not daring to look at Tony now that he had tears running down his face, Peter turned his gaze to Director Fury. “One of the artifacts could manipulate time, and it was sitting right there beside Mr. Stark. I took it. Using all six powers at once had killed Mr. Stark, but he didn’t have my spider healing, and I wasn’t interested in using them all. I used what’s known as the Time Stone to throw me back. Using two others, I was able to change reality enough that my other self was in the plane crash that took my parents and kept my mind straight when absorbing the information download from looking backward.”

Using the back of his hand and arm, Peter dried his tears. There was nothing he had experienced as painful as losing Mr. Stark. Not the moment he realized his parents were gone and he wasn’t like the other kids at school, not when Flash caused all his friends to hate him until he met Ned, not even when Ben died due to his negligence. Mr. Stark was his everything. Peter didn’t even realize how far he had fallen until Mr. Stark was gone.

“I’m sorry. I know this is a lot, but to be fair Director Fury, it was a lot when you helped a woman who bled blue blood smuggle a group of shape-shifting aliens off-planet so they could find a new home as well.”

Thank God Mr. Stark had been around when Captain Marvel explained how she knew Director Fury. For a split-second, Peter saw Fury’s eye widen a fraction until his suspicious glare was back in place.

“So let me get the straight, you’re from the future where I sacrifice myself for the universe, and you’ve come back to what? Save everyone, even though I’m the only one who ended up six-feet under? I thought you said that there was a Mrs. Stark by my side, that’s a lot of effort for your mentor, Kid.”

Shaking his head, Peter looked to Tony for the first time since explaining how he went back in time. “You invented time travel, knowing that a thousand things could happen to kill you or anyone else on the mission for the sole reason of bringing me back after Thanos erased my existence. You weren’t going to, Captain America and a small group were begging you to try, but you weren’t going to until you saw a photo we took together. There was no one to miss me, Tony. Everyone who loved me, who would have mourned for me, died with me. All except for you.”

Running a hand through his hair, Peter tried to piece together how that revelation made him feel. He hadn't known it when he grabbed the gauntlet, but seeing how Mr. Stark changed his mind after looking at a picture of them together. It made Peter’s heart thrive and break simultaneously.

“I don’t know what else to tell you for you to believe me. I’m going to do everything I can to prepare for Thanos attacking. He's going to come here, he’s going to try and take what he believes belongs to him, and if left alone too long he’ll be too powerful to defeat, and we’ll end up just like it was last time. I’m not going to let that happen, but I could use your help.”

Wringing his hands in front of him, Peter glanced around the room. It was a lot to process, to expect that those before him would believe his tale. All he could do was hope that he didn’t sound completely crazy and dismiss him, or worse, try to contain him. Steve was the first to break the silence, a heavy sigh coming from the man.

“If you had come to us a few days ago, I wouldn’t have believed you, but we just fought a swarm of aliens who were led by a Norse God to try and claim Earth. Last time I checked, that was supposed to be impossible. You’ve surprised both Tony and Fury with information you shouldn’t have, and from where I stand, that proves at least some of your story might be true. If there’s even the chance of war coming to Earth again, I, for one, am going to defend it.”

Warmth spread through Peter’s chest, he may never forgive the future Steve Rogers for what he did to Mr. Stark, but this one hadn’t done anything wrong yet. If he could keep them together instead of watching the team fall apart, maybe this could be salvaged as well.

“Thank you, Captain Rogers.”

“Alright Marty McFly, I’m willing to put in some effort on your save the universe plan. There is a plan, right?” asked Tony, his lip curving ever so slightly upwards in a smirk. Fury crossed his arms over his chest and was waiting with a raised eyebrow. Sighing, Peter wondered if they were humoring him, or if they believed his story, at least parts of it.

“You’re not going to like it, but the first step is to speak to the only person we know who recently was controlled and manipulated by Thanos. Now that the link is severed, they are far more likely to cooperate and help us. I get that you can’t possibly trust me yet, but they had no more say in their actions than Agent Barton. Their punishment should be the same.”

“No,” whispered Tony, his eyes wide as Peter nodded.

“I’m sorry, but we need to speak to Loki… and possibly set him free.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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	5. Chapter 5

***~*~*This has been edited by StarkRavingSpiders *~*~*~**

**Chapter Five**

Trying to gain access to the man who brought an alien attack to Earth wasn’t easy. It also wasn’t as tricky as Peter expected it to be. It helped to have someone on your side. While the rest of the world was happy blaming Loki, of letting him shoulder the weight of his actions and ban him from their world, _some even asking for his death_ , there was one who would always give Loki the benefit of the doubt.

Few could say no to Thor, especially when there was no risk of Peter feeing the Asgardian Prince from his cell. Peter entered the room designed to keep Loki, or the Hulk, contained. It was infused with magic, something Thor had used before to hold his brother, and while Peter could enter, he wasn't permitted to bring anything with him, but the SHIELD issued clothing on his back.

Loki’s mouth was unbound, his eyes guarded, near fearful of Peter, who opened the door which locked behind him while entering the area. These were not the eyes of someone who had brought war, but someone who had abandoned all hope. Whatever Loki was expecting as punishment, it wasn’t something he deserved.

“So they chose a child to punish me? Tell me, are you here to show me the error of my ways? Or perhaps they sent you to obtain information on the tesseract? Do you think you could ever harm me? I’m a god you puny human, and there is nothing you could do that would make me spill my secrets.”

It was an act. Peter could see the way Loki was backing against the headboard of his bed before he thought better of it and sat straight as a board on the mattress. His eyes darted outside the transparent prison, in hopes that he could spot a familiar face, perhaps even seeking his brother, though Peter asked for them to be alone. There were several cameras all pointed toward Loki and recording as not to miss anything.

“I’m not here to harm you, Loki. I also don’t need to know anything else about the tesseract. What I want to know, I think you would agree, would be in your best interests to share.”

Loki snorted, his eyes rolling though Peter noticed they were green in the light, not the electric blue of Thanos’ control. How long had Loki been under the power of the titan? How many lives had been lost to the god’s hands and yet beyond his control? Some actions and desires ran through Loki; his need for power was one of them, which was not caused by Thanos but was conditioned to grow instead of being tampered down.

Even the actions of Loki’s free will were tainted by the titan, what torture Loki had overcome warping his mind. Moving to the small table and chair, Peter sat down and faced Loki, who was watching him warily. For a few minutes, silence surrounded them, Peter attempting to choose his words carefully.

“I need to know where Thanos is.”

Loki’s reaction was more than the tightening of his jaw, and the jerk of his arm. A barrier surrounded those eyes Peter was observing. If it were anyone else, perhaps Peter wouldn’t have noticed, but on Loki, the expression was a fortress that he had no hope of penetrating unless invited.

“I don’t know-“

“Save me the lies Loki, I’m here to help you. I know that it was Thanos who gave you the tesseract, and I know it was his army, not yours that attacked New York. What I don’t know is how far away he is from Earth right now and how long we have before he manages to have his gauntlet formed. I could use your help in finding out if Nidavellir has already been taken or if we can save the dwarves.”

This time the silence was unwelcome, Loki glancing between Peter and the locked door. Sitting back in his chair, Peter tried to remain collected, and in control, it was risky to give Loki the information he had. If Loki was with Thanos still, if he no longer cared for his brother or his people as he broadcasted to the world, then they could be screwed. There was no prison humanity could build that would keep the god contained.

If Loki wanted to, he could break out of his cell and tell Thanos everything.

Peter prayed that wasn’t the case.

“Who are you? You’re not one of the companions my brother spoke of, nor were you one of those who dared capture me.”

Sighing, Peter ran a hand through his hair, uncaring that it messed it up even more. “My name is Peter, though when I’m in costume like the others, I go by Spider-Man. I have enhanced strength and reflexes, my skin can become sticky, so I can walk up walls, an ability to sense when and where danger is coming, and I developed a web-like product that can handle my weight to swing from tall buildings.”

Taking a breath, Peter locked eyes with Loki before revealing his situation.

“I’m also from about ten years in the future. Through the use of the time and reality stones, I threw myself back in time to before things went wrong in the hopes of saving the universe.” Licking his lips, Peter glanced at the camera above them. “The second I say what I’m about to Thor is going to come charging in here, but you need to know if you’re going to make a choice. You can tell when others are lying, can’t you? Am I lying to you right now?”

Loki shook his head, his gaze softening lightly since Peter mentioned traveling in time. It was something that could also be done with the right amount of magic, though few dared. To place yourself in the past was one thing, but you could never go back to your future, not if you changed anything while away. After speaking to Loki, and The Avengers, if Peter were to attempt to return to his timeline, he would find nothing but dark space.

“No, Man of Spiders, you are not lying to me.”

“Thanos wins, Loki. His plan to wipe out half the population in the universe comes to light, he gathers the infinity stones and snaps his fingers and half of everything, and everyone turns to ash. Maybe you thought Odin would be able to stop him, I know for a fact that you never wanted that future, but in a few years both your mother and father meet the end of their lives. A warrior from Earth uses the time to reverse the snap, to bring back those who were lost, but it comes at a price far too great. Some have already moved on; children having orphaned for five years are no longer recognizable to their children, husbands, and wives no longer belonging to their spouse.”

“And Asgard?”

Peter shook the memories from his mind, of despair of those around him. Mr. Stark had brought them back, yes, but some had nothing to come back to.

“I need your help Loki, if we’re to stop Thanos before he gets his hands on the gauntlet used to command the infinity stones, then we have a chance of stopping this before it’s too late.”

Just as he expected, Thor was at the door, demanding to know what happened to his parents and how they could prevent their deaths. Peter ignored him, secure that if they thought the prison cell would contain Loki that it would avoid Thor from entering.

“I don’t know where Thanos is, but I can tell you that he’s searching for the power stone as we speak.”

Peter leaned back in his chair, Thor having stopped his shouting through the door and was not demanding that Fury let him in.

“Ragnarök is inevitable. Some of your people manage to survive, but not nearly enough. The few who make it past the end of your planet are then attacked by Thanos, who then snaps and kills half of the survivors. I know that you love your people, Loki, that you wish what’s best for them. Tell Thor and Odin what happened to you when you fell, speak of the horror, of how Thanos used the scepter before entrusting you with it. No one, god or not, is strong enough to resist the mind stone, Loki… not even you.”

“Brother?”

Loki turned to Thor, who was standing outside the door, his hands pressed to the clear plastic. “Did you not have control of your mind after your fall? Was it not your greed that consumed you?” Thor appeared to hopeful, begging Loki silently to agree, to claim that he wasn’t in control and thus should remain unpunished for his deeds. In a moment of what Peter would always see as personal growth, Loki paused before answering, his hands fisted on his lap.

“If I wished to rule this planet, I wouldn’t have done so with such haste. Humanity would have slowly become aware of my presence; I would have become their savior, fighting against those who threatened their existence. I could have easily crafted enemies easy to destroy and make it appear as though I was selfless in my acts. While you ruled Asgard, I would have been worshiped here as their hero.

“The humans do not bow to power and oppression for long; their history quickly demonstrates how they will rise when threatened by someone who seeks power. But a hero? How many years was your Captain assumed dead, and they still thought him on a pedestal? Trying to take over Earth with an iron fist was not my plan, you should know how I operate by now, I prefer to remain unseen until my glory is realized.

“I will not pretend that the thought of ruling Earth, your precious planet, did not cross my mind. Nor will I blame Thanos for the desire to see humanity kneel before me. But this is not how I would have done so if I were to attempt to rule this planet. While I had moments of clarity, brief though they were since I fell from the Bifrost, my actions were not my own. My mind was not my own.”

Peter stood, placing a hand on Loki’s shoulder and leaning down to whisper outside of Thor’s hearing. “A wise man once said that ‘ _It’s not about how much we lost, it’s about how much we have left._ ’ Stop focusing on being against your family, and what they hid from you, it’s time to be apart of something better. They were wrong to keep your lineage a secret. They were wrong to tell stories of your people as if they were monsters. But are you going to focus on what was lost or what you have left? You have a family who loves you and the chance to save them, to protect the people you care about so deeply.”

Pulling back, Peter walked to the doorway, turning back only for a moment. “I’ll give you a couple of days to think about it. We’ll speak again before you’re taken back home.”

Opening the door with a pass of his hand over the control panel, Peter stepped to the side as Thor rushed into the room. Shutting the door behind him, Peter watched for just a moment at the brother’s reunion before leaving. He had a god of mischief to defend against a room full of people who wanted him dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For updates, you can always follow me on social media!
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	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me go! Here's the last chapter of the day.

***~*~*This has been edited by StarkRavingSpiders *~*~*~**

**Chapter Six**

There was something to be said about a man who not only knew what he wanted but wasn’t afraid to make it happen. Tony had seen men and women back down to Fury; it was the man’s job to make other people submit to him not the other way around. Yet this kid, fresh out of his teens wasn’t backing down. He matched gazes with Fury, his spine straight and arms crossed over his chest, intimidating even while in the infirmary.

What amazed Tony more than watching the kid stand his ground was how Steve reacted, his eyes glued to the screen where they were observing what was supposed to be a private conversation. Apparently, Mr. Stars and Stripes had learned something from their time together. “You know, I was half expecting the kid to fold the second Fury came in, but he’s sure sticking to his story.”

Steve continued to watch the display, the sound echoing through the room. Each time Fury spoke he tried to get information out of Peter, tried to let the boy know that they didn’t believe his story about time travel. Every hole he attempted to poke in Peter’s story was explained, every bit of information given was carefully controlled, and no matter how much it pleased Tony to see Nick Fury unable to outwit the young man, it was also concerning.

“Do you think he’s telling the truth?”

Tony turned at the question, watching the pensive expression on his friend’s face. The last thing Tony wanted was someone from the future being thrown back, especially if what stories Fury was getting out of the boy were true. The idea had merit, Tony had thought once or twice of devoting a year or two to the science of time travel. Other projects popped up, not allowing for the time ironically enough.

“I hope not. The kid isn’t painting a pretty picture, and while it could be fun to send someone back in time, even I would know not to mess with my own timeline.” The kid had to be tired, but he refused to give in, demanding that Fury allow him to speak to Loki and that they release the god who had killed over eighty people before New York.

“If he’s telling the truth, even if it’s just about Loki can we turn a blind eye? Nobody is blaming Barton for his actions while under the influence of Loki’s scepter. What if Loki wasn’t in control of his actions if this Thanos guy pulled his strings? Can we judge him so harshly when we’re willing to turn a blind eye to someone else just because they’re human?”

Running a hand through his goatee, Tony sighed. “Which is why Fury is going to try and find anything he can use against the kid. The more I listen to this conversation, the more I’m beginning to believe Peter, as much as I don’t want to.”

Steve nodded, his arms crossed in front of his chest in a similar pose as Peter. “What I don’t get,” said Steve, a slight upturn to his lip. “Is why he keeps changing the subject when it comes to the team but had no problem talking Fury’s ear off about you.”

As much as he wished he didn’t, Tony understood what Peter wasn't saying. There was no team in the future, something had happened to split them apart, and Peter was team Iron Man. A slam caught Tony off guard and brought his attention back to the interrogation happening on the screen in front of him. Fury was losing his composure, though Peter remained unphased on the bed.

_“The last thing we need is people doubting that we can keep them protected. Loki needs to pay for his crimes.”_

_“If he had any crimes to pay for I would agree. But I swear Director Fury if you punish him and not those who were under the specters control I’ll leak everything I know. Even if you don’t believe I’m from the future, I’ve told you enough for you to know what secrets I hold. And I hate to break it to you, but you’re not the only secret organization designed to protect the world, and I have options on who to go to. There are certain timelines I’m not certain of the dates and would like to avoid if possible so please don’t make me make that choice.”_

_“You can't expect me to believe that you’re from the future. What happened that made you want to come back in the first place?”_

_“I told you, Thanos…”_

_“No kid, you told me about this big bad who came in and destroyed half the galaxy, but you never explained why it had to be you. What makes you so special that you were sent back in time to fix everything?”_

_“No one sent me. I came on my own.”_

_“But Why?”_

_“I couldn’t live in a world without Tony Stark. He died, Director. In saving us all he lost his life. I’m more than happy to live in his shadow, but I’m not willing to live in a world without him. So do your tests, quiz me all you want, but I’m going to do everything in my considerable power to make sure that Tony Stark lives a long and happy life.”_

Fury changed the conversation back to Loki, but Tony was struck dumb in front of the screen. Sure Peter had told him about coming back in time, even how he managed to do so and why but he hadn’t put the pieces together. The man was young, barely even a man, but the conviction with which he spoke was of someone twice his age.

“He’s in love with you.”

Glancing at Steve whose eyes were darting between the screen and Tony, Tony nodded. It was easy to tell; Peter was the type to wear his heart on his sleeve. How his future self never saw or at least never acted on the feelings, Tony couldn’t say.

“Do you believe him? About being from the future?” asked Tony, his eyes locked on Peter who was waiting for Fury to stop ranting to make his appeal to see Loki again.

“You may already know this, but during the war, Hydra captured my best friend, Bucky. At the time, I wasn’t trained to be anything more than a showman. What training I did have was from before the serum. I had no backup, nothing more than my strength to help me against a force that could easily tear me apart. I didn’t hesitate. With my prop from my show, I went into one of Hydra’s bases to rescue Bucky. History put it down to trying to free the men captured there, and I did, but I would never have made the mission if it wasn’t for Bucky being in trouble.”

Steve placed his hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Yes, I believe that if the person you love is in trouble, that you’re bound to do anything to save them. I get the feeling that his Tony, the one that helped mentor him and show him the man he could be, never crossed that line. Maybe you find someone between now and then, maybe it’s because you knew him when he was just a kid, but that man is laying down the future of the known universe on the chance that he can save you. I believe him; he has the same look in his eyes that I did.”

The hand removed from Tony’s shoulder.

“I thought he was your friend, not the love of your life.”

Steve crossed his arms in front of his chest, shrugging with a sad smile on his face. “Couldn’t he be both? It was a different time then, and while I would have loved to use my fame to promote our love, it never could have been. Peggy was a great girl who understood where we were coming from, and I would have happily started a family with her. But it was always Bucky, Tony. We were just born at the wrong time.”

The screen blanked out as Director Fury walked through the doorway, raising an eyebrow before shaking his head. Without saying a word, he went to the bar and poured himself a glass before taking a swig and leaning against the counter.

“Well? What do you think about our resident time traveler?”

Steve stood at attention, though Tony took a seat on one of the sofas laying around. “We figure he’s telling the truth. And I think he should be allowed to see Loki. Even if he’s talking out of his ass about Loki not being in control of his mind, we need to know. This Thanos guy, if he’s strong enough to control a god, what can’t he do?”

Tony nodded, his eyes darting to the blackened screen which had displayed the interrogation only moments before. “I don’t think he’s a threat. Even if his story turns out to be bullshit, he could be an asset. I had JARVIS run his vitals as soon as we arrived and he’s putting out readings similar to Capsicle here. At the very least we should let him talk to Loki in a controlled environment, even if he’s wrong about mind control it could give us the leverage we need to have him sign up for the team.”

It would also give him the time he needed to try and figure the kid out. While he wanted to remain on his guard, someone was pulling him toward the young man. Maybe it was his earnest expression or how he was so besotted, whatever the reason Tony wanted to keep Peter Parker close. How close he wasn’t sure.

“As good as I am, I’m not going to be able to sell this to the board unless I have something concrete to go on.”

“You mean the same board who decided to bomb New York? I’m sure you could come up with something. Tell them Thor is only willing to aid us in keeping The Earth safe so long as we extend the same courtesy to his brother. I’m sure if you let Thor know what Peter here said he’ll demand Loki be properly interrogated. Win-win for everyone involved.”

Fury didn’t look impressed with the suggestion. Sighing he nodded, his arms crossed over his chest. “I’ll speak with the board and see if we can make it happen, but I make no promises to you, Thor or the kid.” With his overcoat flowing behind him, Fury turned and left the building, leaving Tony and Steve to glance back at the monitor which showed Peter sitting calmly in his bed the second Fury was out of the room.

“JARVIS,” called Tony, watching as the boy let out a puff of air, looking around the room. “Let Peter know that there’s a StarkPad inside the bedside drawer if he wants something to do and make sure to monitor thoroughly.”

“Yes, Sir. Shall I also tell him about the phone you left as well?”

“Sure thing J.” Under his breath, Tony whispered while watching Peter jerk to attention as JARVIS relayed the information. “I hope you don’t prove me wrong, kid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For updates, you can always follow me on social media!
> 
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	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good morning everyone! 
> 
> This is the first chapter of this story for the day. Now, I only have one more pre-written, so I'm going to have to slow down my posting schedule a bit. I hope you all enjoy it!

***~*~*This has been edited by StarkRavingSpiders *~*~*~**

**Chapter Seven**

Chaos was the only way Peter could describe the gathering of The Avengers after his meeting with Loki. Inside the Helicarrier The Avengers, minus Thor, who was speaking with his brother, were shouting inside their meeting room. The loudest voice was Clint Barton. Both of his hands were pressed flat on the table, his chair had fallen behind him while he shouted for everyone to hear how Loki was not to be trusted.

Peter hadn’t spent a lot of time with Clint before, having fought against him when Mr. Stark asked for his help in Germany the archer was then on house arrest until the snap. The only interaction he had with Clint was in battle, and it looked as though he might need to test his skills on the archer again to defend his actions.

There were so many voices merging, Peter almost covered his ears with his hands to help block out the sound, resisting the urge only as not to show his vulnerability. Tony was the first to notice his presence, or at least the first to mention it. Mr. Stark had always held a sixth sense for Peter, his eyes following Peter in a room just as Peter’s followed Mr. Stark, only for entirely different reasons.

Peter wanted to see more of the man, to drink in the view before Mr. Stark realized that he wasn’t worth the trouble. Without their history between them, Peter found the eyes watching him now weren’t nearly as parental. Mr. Stark has only wanted Peter to be happy and healthy to protect him in as many layers of technology that he could imagine. Tony has never seen Peter fumbling through his teenage years, had never watched as his friends and comrades left him to freeze to death.

Instead of watching Peter in familial love, Tony was assessing Peter as a potential threat and ally. Tony saw Peter as someone to fight alongside, as a prospective member of their team, not as a kid. And if Peter was reading the man right when Tony let his gaze slide across Peter’s form dressed in a tight-fitting SHIELD uniform, there was a bit of lust lingering in his gaze.

“I would have thought that you of all people would have understood what it’s like to not be in control of yourself, Agent Barton.”

Stepping fully into the room, Peter tried not to look at Tony as he stood beside him. Even if it all went to Hell, Peter wanted to spend as much time soaking in Tony’s presence as possible. It felt good to have Tony’s support, especially given that Tony didn’t know him, not really. All Peter had offered was a story, no proof beyond knowledge he shouldn’t have, and yet Tony stood at his side, willing to believe him.

“Loki is nothing more than a liar! There’s no way that he wasn’t in complete control while he killed those people and nearly wiped us all out with his army. I felt the power he was welding, felt it enter my head, and block out everything else but his orders. Don’t tell me he’s innocent!”

Sighing, Peter raised an eyebrow at Clint. “So what you’re saying is that you’re the only one who could have their free will taken from them. That there is no possibility that Loki could have possibly been tortured and enslaved. Loki may be a god of mischief, but last I checked he wasn’t invincible. I understand that you want to blame someone, Agent Barton, but perhaps you could focus your anger on the person responsible.”

Instead of standing as everyone else was, Peter pulled out his chair and took a seat. Surprisingly Steve sat to his left, showing his support. It was unexpected how Peter found himself liking Captain America. It had always been a dream of his, especially after the spider bite, that he would meet the classic hero and work beside him. Germany had ruined that dream, tainting his image of the perfect soldier and closing that chapter of his life.

“Clint, I need you to think about this if you claim that Loki was responsible for his actions while under the influence of someone else’s control that means that you are responsible for your own. I’ve seen what Hydra could do with the power of the Tesseract. It stands to reason that mind control isn’t outside the realm of possibilities. Given what we’ve all experienced in the past few days, can we dismiss anything? You saw the video as well as the rest of us, and while we should complete the investigation, nothing is disproving Peter’s theory.”

Glancing at Steve out of the corner of his eye, Peter could feel a bit of the shield he erected against the other man melt a bit.

“If he didn’t have a choice, we were planning on giving him over to Asgard anyway for prosecution. Who’s to say that they don’t have ways of ensuring that Loki was working under someone else’s power?” questioned Tony, now sitting to Peter’s right.

“We do.” Everyone turned to the voice in the doorway. Thor stood with his arms crossed over his chest and dressed in a casual pair of jeans and a t-shirt, which did nothing to hide the bulging muscles in his arms. Holding a crush on his mentor didn’t make Peter bling to the appeal of the people surrounding him.

“Between our mother’s magic and Hemindall’s sight, we shall have the answer you seek as to if Loki’s actions were his own. Release my brother into my care, and should his words be false, he will be punished severely.” Thor’s voice dropped at the end of his sentence leaving no room to doubt that the punishment would fit the crime. Clint looked on the edge between shouting again and throwing his hands in the air.

“Nobody is going to let Loki get away with what he did, Agent Barton. What we need to do is figure out what actions were his and what was Thanos.” Leaning back in his chair, Peter tried to relax as Clint glared daggers at him. If he thought Loki was innocent, Peter wouldn’t have bothered trying to help him. A lot of people were dead and would die because of Loki’s actions. It wasn’t just the people he killed, but those who were at the site when New York began to fall. If Peter could use Loki’s inability to control his actions and implant the idea of mind control in Tony’s head, there’s a chance he could prevent Tony from going after Bucky.

Rubbing his temples, Peter wondered if he could keep the secrets and the timeline straight. There were some things he could do now, he could give Fury the coordinates to Sergeant Barnes’ holding cell and pray that everything turns out, or he could wait and see if Barnes breaks free of the control himself. There was also the knowledge of Wanda and Petro. Did he try to rescue them? Would they listen? Tony was working on the formula for the element that would save him, but did Peter tell him about Ultron in hopes of preventing the robot from being born? Or did he wait and sabotage the construction when in-process?

Voices continued around him; Thor was saying something to Clint, who, while angry, wasn’t shouting any longer and was now sitting in his chair. A hand touched his shoulder, making Peter jerk in surprise as he didn’t sense the touch coming, only to meet warm brown eyes with his own. How anyone could think Tony was as uncaring as he appeared in interviews, Peter didn’t know. There was a swell of affection there, of concern for someone he had only met a few days before.

“You okay there, Kid?”

Giving Tony a crooked smile, Peter shrugged, though he could feel Steve’s eyes on him from his other side, his attention was focused on Tony. It was always focused on Tony. “I’ll be fine, just trying to figure out the least destructive way to change the timeline without, you know, destroying the timeline. We have a few years at best before Thanos takes too much of an interest in Earth, and I would like him dead long before then. The problem is that some of the key players aren’t on the table yet.”

Seeing as he had the attention of everyone in the room again, Peter chose to ignore when Nick Fury entered. “But then there’s the problem of morals. Some of the key players? They have to go through hell to become powerful men and women. I know them to be when fighting Thanos. Do I stop what’s about to happen to them, or do I wait until after they gain their powers and control and approach them then? When does the greater good outweigh the safety and treatment of a handful of people?”

Peter glanced at Steve, who was frowning in thought. “I’m out of my time. Only unlike you, Captain, I went backward. Each action we take could change the flow of time, and I have no way of knowing if it’s the right call or not or if it will change things too drastically for me to predict them. I’m not even sure I haven’t spun everything off its axes already.”

“Well, if you did, we’ll be sure to fix it. And about your moral issue, the last people you should be asking are us. Between us, we have more blood and bad decisions on our conscious than anyone else I know, which is saying something. The only person who can make that call is you. I trust you to do what’s right Kid, even if we only met a couple of days ago, you seem like the right choice for the job.”

Peter blinked back tears. He had always looked for Mr. Stark’s approval, desperate for even a scrap of it. To know that in only a few short days, Tony not only approved of him but trusted him with something for fundamentally important hit him right in the chest.

“You know, it may not have to be either-or.” Whipping his head to look at Fury, who was sitting at the head of the table, his arms crossed over his chest, Peter hoped the man would elaborate. “I think maybe we could be looking at this wrong. Let’s see what Thor can pull from Loki and wait before deciding anything. This Thanos guy, you said that he gained control of these magic stones, if he hasn’t done so yet we might have enough firepower to take him out. That could leave plenty of time for you to stage a rescue mission for the people you want to bring on board.”

Though he hated the idea of waiting, of not acting, Fury was right.

“I will prepare for Loki’s trial. The sooner the trial is concluded, the faster we can deal with the tyrant Thanos who dares enslave a royal prince of Asgard.”

Thor’s voice boomed throughout the room. Nodding, Peter ran a hand through his hair. Putting the issue of what they were going to do on hold still left him with several problems, including a place to stay. As if reading his mind, Tony reached over and patted Peter’s shoulder to gain his attention.

“Well, if we’re done here, I’m going to take the little spider back home while my people reconstruct the tower.” Tony raised an eyebrow at Peter’s stunned expression. “What you didn’t think I was going to leave you homeless, did you? Nah, you’ll come back with me to Malibu, and I’ll have a suit set up for you during the reconstruction. Just like I plan on for everyone else in our merry gang of heroes.”

“A-are you sure? I mean, I don’t want to put you out or anything, and I’m sure Ms. Potts wouldn’t want me hanging around or anything, not that I would bother you! I mean, it would probably be easier if I just got a job, someone would most likely hire me, and then I could--”

Peter was cut off as a warm hand covered his mouth, Tony’s lips in a teasing grin. “Trust me; you’re not putting me out any. My house is huge; I’m sure I’ll hardly notice that you’re there half the time unless, of course, you didn’t want to share the tech in your suit as payment?”

Nodding behind Tony’s hand, Peter waited Tony removed his palm before speaking. “That would be great, Tony. Thank you.” Peter couldn’t look away, ignoring the fact that Tony brushed aside the mention of Ms. Potts easier than Peter expected. It couldn’t mean what he thought, could it? While the public had always speculated about their relationship, Peter knew that Mr. Stark had a child with Ms. Potts. Could his presence have already altered the timeline?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For updates, you can always follow me on social media!
> 
> Twitter ( https://twitter.com/CrowNoYami )  
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	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As this is my last pre-written chapter done it may be a while until my next update. Enjoy!

***~*~*This has been edited by StarkRavingSpiders *~*~*~**

**Chapter 8**

Watching things come together was a matter of art. Peter had some experience with the Avengers, though nothing of the organization they could pull together at nearly a moment’s notice. By the time he was dragged into the superhero world Earth’s Mightiest Heroes had been split, a clear line was drawn in the sand. This was how the team should have been, each member doing their job to convince not only the SHIELD board that Peter’s plan needed to be approved but helping in the relief efforts for New York.

Peter helped where he could, spending time with the other enhanced members to lift rubble and make plans with Tony on new structures they could build to replace the old buildings. It took a considerable amount of time for Peter to convince Tony not to take control of the cleanup and to allow for those who bid for the project to do their jobs, though all alien tech went directly to S.I.

Running a hand through his hair, Peter watched as Loki stepped closer to his brother, his lips set in a deep frown but visible nonetheless. Catching Loki’s eye, the usual green instead of Thanos’ controlled blue, Peter offered a soft smile. No matter how busy things became, Peter tried his best to visit Loki, daily if he could. Thor used the time to take a break from trying to convince Loki to divulge precisely what Thanos did to him.

Most of the time, they sat there in silence. Sometimes Loki would ask questions about his abilities, and Peter would ask for the truth in the myths surrounding Loki and Asgard. Becoming friends with the prince was comfortable, more relaxed than Peter anticipated, and though he didn’t say so, Peter would miss speaking with Loki or enjoying his comforting silence while the trial took place. What was worse was knowing that he couldn’t help. Peter was forbidden from leaving with them, from pleading his case to Odin and standing beside his friend while his mind was stripped and left bare.

“Man of Spiders,” spoke Loki, his green eyes locked on Peter and ignoring the others watching him leave. “When I come back, I expect you to explain the story behind my brother’s wedding gown.” Peter laughed, Thor’s face turning pink as he raised his hammer in the air and was struck by lightning, leaving nothing of the brothers behind.

“Well, that was interesting, do I even want to know?” asked Tony, arms crossed over his chest, making the button up stretch over his chest. Watching Tony work the past few days in completing and testing the new element didn’t take away the thump in Peter’s chest every time he saw Tony there, living beside him. There were some differences between the Mr. Stark that he knew and the Tony he was beginning to understand.

Each milestone in Tony’s life changed him made him into the man Peter once knew, the man who sacrificed himself to save the universe. The Tony before him didn’t have the same experiences, wasn’t run down by his life or of the betrayals that kept coming. While this Tony may have risked his life flying a missile into space, he also had faith that he would survive the trip.

Tony was still a fighter, while Mr. Stark had given up, leaving his legacy to remember him by.

“You know if you keep looking at me like that, Pete, you’re going to give me a complex.” Shaking his head, Peter grinned at Tony, ignoring how he knew his cheeks flushed at being caught staring. It wouldn’t be the first time, and though Tony was good-natured about it, eventually, he would have enough of Peter’s gaze always on him. Until that happened, Peter was willing to soak up every second with the man.

“You already have a complex Tony; it’s part of your charm.”

Natasha laughed, clapping Tony on the back. “He’s got you there. Clint and I are going to have to take our leave. It’s good to see you’ll have someone to keep you on your toes while we’re gone.”

Without so much as a goodbye, Natasha waved and walked to the car, which already had Clint inside. The trial had been exhausting, and even though Clint understood that Loki might not be responsible for his crimes, he couldn’t stand being next to the god without wanting to notch his bow. It was safer for everyone, having Clint wait in the car as Loki left Earth. Bruce was the next to go, promising to keep in touch when Tony offered him a place to stay again.

Before long, it was just Peter and Tony standing in the middle of a significant scorch mark from the god’s departure. Shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans, Tony having bought him a wardrobe the second he agreed to move in, Peter sighed. A large palm pressed against the small of Peter’s back and breathing in; he could smell Tony’s cologne beside him.

“Looks like it’s just us now, what do you say we head home, and I’ll take another look at that A.I. of yours, I’ve never seen one as advanced as JARVIS.”

Giving Tony only partial access to his suit and Karen was slowly driving the billionaire nuts. After much arguing they had reached a compromise, Tony could break down the Spider-Man outfit, but only when Peter was with him in the lab. Mr. Stark may have been the one to make Karen, but it was still years into the future, the technology having not been invented yet.

“Karen is one of a kind, Tony. I won't mind tinkering on my formula a bit if you don’t mind me taking over some of your labs while you dissect the suit.”

Tony laughed, swinging an arm over Peter’s shoulder and hugging him close. It was something Peter noticed since he came to this timeline. Tony liked to touch. It wasn’t just him, Tony would clap his hand on someone’s back, tugging those he knew into a hug, but Tony did tend to gravitate toward Peter the most. Every time they made contact, Peter had to fight down the urge to cuddle closer, to ask for more than what Tony was willing to give.

Tony was the only one who touched him, was his only physical contact in the world around him. While he knew he would miss his aunt, he didn’t think it would be so lonely without her. Their casual touches were so reassuring, knowing that there was someone whose arms were always open to him. To have that taken away was heartbreaking.

He may not know what he’s doing, but Tony was easing the ache with every clasp on his shoulder or one-armed hug. He was also making it harder for Peter to ignore how attractive Tony was, or how the smell of his cologne was comforting, making Peter want to breathe in deeper to catch the scent. It wasn’t just touching; the man Peter had seen as a father figure was nowhere to be seen in Tony.

Peter had never craved someone’s presence more in his life, not even during those first few days of being recruited by Mr. Stark to go to Germany. That man was broken, torn up inside and near defeat. The years that followed, the countless battles coming at him at all angles made Mr. Stark lose the man Peter was living with now. Not to say that Tony was either naive or undamaged, but the differences between them were remarkable, and no matter how hard he tried, Peter couldn’t maintain his relationship with Tony as merely a mentee.

This Tony meant something more, something different, and Peter was both terrified and thrilled to see where they stood. There were twenty years between them, given Peter’s new I.D., two decades between them, and Peter had never felt closer to Tony. There was such a lightness to the eyes others would perceive as guarded.

“Come on, let’s see how far I can get into the coding before JARVIS tells us it’s time to shut down and eat.”

Smiling, Peter nodded while following Tony, Tony’s arm still wrapped around his shoulders as they walked to his sleek car. Climbing inside, Peter buckled his seatbelt the second he sat down, having already experienced driving with Tony behind the wheel.

“Buckle,” warned Peter the second Tony sat down and started the engine. While rolling his eyes, Tony snapped the buckle into place before gunning it. Tires squealing as they pulled out onto the highway, Peter had one hand grasping the door handle while the other held onto his pant leg. All his focus was on trying not to bend the leather under his fingertips, while Tony would most likely laugh it off, Peter wasn’t about to damage the car of his host.

“Since we’re waiting for Fury to get back to us, what are your plans for the rest of the week?”

Turning to face Tony instead of the rapidly passing scenery, Peter shrugged. “I haven’t made plans. I suppose I should find somewhere to work so I can at least contribute. I get that you’re willing to house me for free, and I thank you for it, but it feels weird not earning my way.”

Tony hummed, his eyes darting from the road to Peter. “Don’t feel pressured or anything, but I could use an extra set of hands around the lab. It’s not just a free pass; you would be expected to clean up after my mess and act as a go-between for Pepper and me. She’s constantly on my ass about getting a half-decent amount of sleep and food. From what I’ve seen you’d be perfect for bouncing ideas off of, don’t get me wrong Pepper would make you sign an NDA but I might be able to talk her out of it.”

“I wouldn’t mind signing an NDA, Tony. It’s not a bad idea, regardless if I take the job offer or not.” Tony opened his mouth, most likely to either protest the NDA or to try and bribe Peter to take the job. Before he could speak, Peter cut him off. “I’d be stupid to pass the chance of working with you up, Tony… but I think if I’m going to be on the payroll, I should speak to Ms. Potts about it. I want to go through the proper channels, and it sounds a lot like I’m going to be working more for her than you, so I’d like to speak to her about it first.”

The tension Peter could see around Tony’s mouth decreased a little, his shoulders relaxing. “Yeah that makes sense, I’ll have JARVIS arrange a meeting with you.” Peter couldn’t help but reach over, placing his hand on Tony’s shoulder for a moment. There had been an edge to his voice, a touch of hurt that Peter never wanted to hear from Tony.

“I’ll consider it, Tony. I would love to work with you, but there’s gotta be paperwork involved, and to be honest, working for someone I consider a friend feels off to me. I’m hopeful Ms. Potts and I can come to some agreement where I work for her instead of you. I like having you as my friend. I’m not so sure about you being my boss.”

Tony chuckled, though he didn’t remove Peter’s hand from his shoulder. “You may have a point.” Peter squeezed Tony’s shoulder once before removing his hand. ‘Set up the meeting, and I’ll see what I can do about convincing Ms. Potts to hire me as your assistant. I have a feeling I’m going to be cleaning up your messes for a while. I might as well get paid for it.”

Laughter filled the car, Peter glancing at Tony for a moment before turning back to the window. He could quickly get used to this, to this camaraderie with Tony. Spending his days working with Tony in the lab, making sure that the older man eats and sleeps seemed like a dream. Now he only had to convince Tony’s ex that he was the right man for the job and hide how the thought of spending so much time with Tony made his stomach flutter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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**Author's Note:**

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